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Type Higher Education & Further Education Locations Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Great Yarmouth, Lincoln, London, Manchester, Mansfield, Norwich and York Websites www.accesstomusic.co.uk | ||
Access to Music is a UK-based independent training provider which specialises in industry-focussed popular music and creative education. It operates across England with dedicated music colleges in Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Great Yarmouth, Lincoln, London, Manchester, Mansfield, Norwich, and York. Its head office is currently in Birmingham.
Contents
Access to Music is funded by the Education Funding Authority (EFA) and the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) and works in partnership with other UK educational institutions, including Birmingham City University (BCU) and the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM).
History
Access to Music was founded in 1992 by John Ridgeon to promote and improve popular music education in the UK. The first Access to Music head office was in Leicester. The music school formed a partnership with Leicester College followed by partnerships with regional colleges.
The second Access to Music centre opened in Bristol in 1999 and the York and London branches opened in 2002. The first Access to Music award ceremony, hosted by Sir George Martin, took place in London in 2003. Subsequent award ceremonies took place in various locations around the country, including O2 Academy Birmingham and Liverpool Sound City, and have been hosted by BBC Radio DJs Lauren Laverne and Edith Bowman. The music college expanded to Brighton and Lincoln in 2004 with centres opening in both cities.
In 2009, Access to Music was acquired by Armstrong Learning, a Manchester-based education and training provider. In 2011, the head office re-located from Leicester to Birmingham, with an administrative centre established in Manchester. In 2011, Access to Music launched a new centre in Darlington based at The Forum Music Centre. In 2013, the college in Norwich moved from its King Street location to Epic Studios.
The York centre created and organised Access to Music's first trade fair at York St John University in early April 2014 and Access to Music presented a Masterclass at the first Brighton Music Conference, an electronic music event. In the summer of 2014 plans were finalised for a new centre in Manchester, opening in early October. The centre will be situated in the basement of the St. James's Buildings on Oxford Street, the former location of the music venues Jilly's Rockworld and Music Box.
A new centre was opened at Great Yarmouth College in the summer of 2015, followed by a new centre in Mansfield at the beginning of 2016.
Courses and accreditations
Access to Music delivers courses at both Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE) levels. It designs its own FE music curriculum in partnership with Rockschool, the UK’s only rock and pop accrediting body and Edexcel. The HE curriculum is designed in conjunction with RNCM and BCU.
Further Education
Higher Education
Access to Music was inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate in late 2012 and was found to exceed expectations in the following categories:
Access to Music was also awarded a 'Good' grade in an Ofsted report following an inspection in March 2013.
Notable Alumni
Notable alumni include:
Event Participation
Access to Music has appeared or participated at the following events: